It was the first major injury in the 30-year-old centre back’s career, which saw him spend a decade in England with Newcastle, Burnley, Swansea, Birmingham, Huddersfield and Sheffield United. He found a new perspective in life, and with soccer.

“I watched a lot of football,” he said. “I learned the game. I watched the game in a different way.”

He took notes. He watched his teammates. He watched what other players who play his position on other teams do. And he spent time doing colour commentary on WFC2 games.

“It was more opinion based,” he said. He didn’t shy away from saying what he thought.

“I focused on what a player should do and shouldn’t. I didn’t necessarily hold back. I tried not to be biased.”

He realized two things doing all this: one, he can see a future as a coach; two, being a commentator isn’t something to rule out, but it’s also a bit different from where he thinks he wants to go in life.

He called his current status with the Whitecaps, where he doesn’t have a contract and is here to prove he’s still got a future as a professional, “a different situation.

“I’m embracing it, I’m grateful every day. I said this to some of the boys last year, you take it for granted.”

Not training every day, like last year because of his injury, “was something I never had to deal with.”

And while he’s mostly focused on winning a new contract — with the Whitecaps or another team — he’s also got the national team in the back of his mind.

Of the surprise move last month by Canada Soccer to dump national men’s team coach Octavia Zambrano in favour of women’s head coach John Herdman, he admitted “it was a bit of a shock.”

Now Edgar, who’s been capped 41 times by the national team, has to show Herdman he’s got what it takes.

“I want to be there. I want to be the captain. I’ve got goals and dreams and aspirations,” he said. “If I’m involved, great, but if not, I’ve got to earn it.”

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Hope you had a lovely Family Day. We’re back with the Skate.
My only advice as we get this week started: find someone that loves you like how much Leo Messi and Dani Alves like hitting long balls in warmup.